This is an alphabetical list of cities worldwide that have an urban heavy rail system, or a light rail system with some elements of urban heavy rail. To be listed here, a system must have an elevated or underground section of sufficient length.

Most light rail systems are not included here but are in list of light-rail transit systems. Some systems have elements of both and are in both lists.

There is also a list of suburban and commuter rail systems.

Africa

Asia, including Caucasus

Notes

1. There are four systems in KCR. East Rail shares track with inter-city and freight trains on most but not all of its tracks. West Rail was designed as a commuter railway like East Rail, but contains only within-Hong Kong service currently, and is operating as a metro. The third one is the Light Rail system. A fourth one, the Ma On Shan Rail, is a branch of East Rail containing only local passenger service.

The East Rail was opened in 1910 as part of a raillink to Canton (now Guangzhou), the Kowloon-Canton Railway, with some local service. It was electrified in the early 1980s, and over 95% of services on its track are now metro-like passenger service within Hong Kong's territories.

Europe, excluding the Caucasus

Notes

1. built as suburban steam railway in 1869
2. see also U-Bahn
3. see also Transportation in Germany
4. built as Cable car. Electrified in 1935
5. northernmost metro in the world
6. See also VAL
7. built as urban steam railway in 1863
8. RER commuter trains offer metro-like service within the city; see also Orlyval
9. built as urban steam railway in 1898

North America

Notes

1. Buffalo Metro Rail is mostly underground; there is a non-grade separated passage, but it is located within a pedestrian mall, with no vehicle traffic.
2. An elevated section of the Chicago 'L' opened outside downtown as a steam railway in 1892; part of it downtown opened in 1897.
3. Cleveland Rapid Transit includes one true metro line and two light rail lines operated together.
4. Guadalajara metro includes one true metro line and one light rail line operated together.
5. In 1897, streetcars began to use the tunnel in Boston. Urban heavy rail vehicles started using it in 1901.
6. The oldest right-of-way used by the New York City Subway system opened in 1863 as a typical regional rail line in Brooklyn. The first elevated structure opened in 1868 in downtown Manhattan, but has been torn down. The oldest elevated structure still in use opened in 1885 in Brooklyn. The oldest line in Manhattan that is still in use opened in 1904, and was the first subway line.
7. The Staten Island Railway uses R44 subway cars and is fully grade separated, but only has one short tunnel. The first passenger trains ran on the full line, at the time a typical rural regional rail line, in 1860. The line was electrified in 1925.[138] The last grade crossing was eliminated in 1966[139] (however, the New York City Subway had one until 1983[140]).
8. Funding for the Cincinnati Subway ran out in 1925, and the system has never been used.
9. The Seattle Bus Tunnel began service in 1990, and is planned to be rebuilt for light rail and reopen in 2007. The Seattle Monorail Project is planned to replace the current monorail, opening in 2009.
10. Portland's MAX system has one subway section with one station, Washington Park .

Oceania

There are no true metro systems in Australia or New Zealand, although some suburban railways have tunnel sections (Sydney's CityRail in particular provide metro-style services).

South America

Top 10 in terms of annual passenger rides

1. Moscow Metro 3.2 billion
2. Tokyo Metro 2.7 billion
3. Seoul 1.6 billion
4. Mexico City Metro 1.3 billion
5. New York City Subway 1.3 billion
6. Paris Metro 1.2 billion
7. Osaka Municipal Subway 957 million
8. London Underground 886 million (4.6 billion miles)
9. Hong Kong MTR 798 million
10. St. Petersburg 784 million

Top 10 in terms of number of stations

1. New York 468
2. Paris 369
3. London 275
4. Tokyo 274 (Tokyo Metro 168, TOEI Subway 106)
5. Seoul 263
6. Berlin 254
7. Munich 229
8. Madrid 190
9. Mexico City 175
10. Moscow 165

Top 10 in terms of length

1. Munich 527 km (U-Bahn 85 km, S-Bahn 442 km)
2. Berlin 473 km (U-Bahn 146 km, S-Bahn 327 km)
3. Milano 419.4 km (Metropolitana 81.2 Km, "S" RailLink 338 km)
4. London 415 km
5. New York City 368 km
6. Tokyo 292.3 km (Tokyo Metro 183.2 km, TOEI Subway 109 km)
7. Seoul 287 km
8. Moscow 265.2 km
9. Madrid 226.5 km
10. Paris 212.5 km

Earliest metros

• 1863 London Underground
• 1868 Ninth Avenue Elevated (New York City)
• 1875 Istanbul
• 1892 Chicago
• 1893 Liverpool
• 1896 Budapest; Glasgow
• 1897 Boston
• 1900 Paris Métro
• 1902 Berlin U-Bahn
• 1904 New York City Subway

External links

• urbanrail.net Guide to metro systems of the world
• Metro and Light Rail - Selected International Systems Ranked by Passenger Kilometres per Route Kilometre